Eight-year-old Toha (Doha Ramadan) and Nelly (Khadija Ahmed) are best friends. They are often inseparable, wasting away the empty days finding new games or curiously exploring the modern Cairo condo in which they live. Toha’s latest mission is to give Nelly the best birthday ever. Despite their deep connection, there is a notable social divide between the two friends. Nelly’s family is very affluent, and the employer of Toha’s mother. As Toha tries to find her way of celebrating her friend, she slowly begins to realise their differences.

Goher thrives when it comes to getting the best out of her child actors. The spontaneity is notable. The first-time director has refrained from calling Happy Birthday a docudrama out of a respect for her lead actress, Doha Ramadan, he once explained. The film deals with chauvinism, hierarchy and cultural expectations. Dreamlike sequences add a touch of lyricism to the proceedings. Editor Ahmed Hafez, fresh off the success of Inshallah a Boy (ASmjad Al Rasheed, 2023) allows moments of surreal innocence to prevail.

Happy Birthday is at its most emotionally devastating when it keeps a certain distance from its characters. There’s a searing slow-burn to watching these two girls play with such an unbroken imagination, and gradually seeing as they are forced to “grow up” to a world that doesn’t necessarily want them to be friends. Ramadan delivers a mesmerising performance without slipping into didacticism, thus elevating the often indecisive script and dramaturgy to new heights. The melodramatic beats of the third act work mostly thanks to Ramadan’s skills.

The cinematography is consistently inventive, constantly shifting tone as the scenarios change. This film isn’t afraid to present the bleak and corporate side of Cairo to international audiences. The informal camera movements reminded me of documentaries by American independent filmmaking duo the Roff Brother: there is a raw and wild excitement in the way the less glamorous facets of Cairo are captured.

This heartwarming 91-minute film does not reach its full potential mostly because it feels a little formulaic at times. Still, there is a miraculous passion in the child actors, and Goher’s commitment in eliciting the best from them, and broadening our cinematic perception of Egypt. The children’s point-of-view is is done respectfully, and the end results that are undeniably crushing.

Happy Birthday showed at 25th REC Tarragona International Film Festival.